Writing down why I write gave me back my excitement and energy towards writing my book.

I also wrote down what was contributing to me feeling burnt out. I think its important to reflect back to see what the cause of burn out can be and then you can determine how to prevent it from happening:

Why Do I Write?

I write because it is what I have always wanted to. I am literally living my dream and have so much gratitude for the fact that I can spend my days writing. I have worked super hard over the past few years to get to a position where I could leave the stressful rat race of the banking world to focus on becoming a full-time author entrepreneur.

I write to inspire, empower and educate myself as well as my readers.

I write because it makes me come alive. Writing makes me feel like I am contributing positively to this world.

I write because I have stories I want to share with the world.

Writing gives me energy.

Writing helps me to livea better life as I find the process meditative and relaxing. Writing also helps me to process pain and trauma.

I am re-discovering myself though writing, I feel more creative, have more ideas and see life through a different lens when I write.

I want to create a full-time income derived from my writing. I want to use my writing as a source of online diversified income streams. I want to build a self-sustaining business model around my writing I.e. be an Author Entrepreneur.

Writing helps me to learn and satisfies my unstoppable thirst for knowledge. As a writer I also get to read loads of books which is my second most favourite thing after writing!

Just writing out these reasons helped me to re-focus and re-motivate myself to get working on my book and work through the slump I was experiencing.

Why was I feeling burnt out?

It’s just as important to review and reflect on why I was experiencing lack of motivation and burn-out.

By reflecting back, you can spot when you are feeling burnt out and immediately take steps to fix the problem. The act of reflecting helps you to develop greater self-awareness.

I was putting too much pressure on myself to get my book out into the world

But when I think about it, who is putting this pressure? I don’t have a boss breathing down my neck ….and instead have turned into a boss breathing down my own neck!

And whats the point of that? I left banking because it was stressful and I wanted to do something more creative and productive with my time. So I must remember the key reason why I left banking and be grateful that I can write full-time as not everyone has this luxury.

I was comparing my first attempts of writing to those of successful author entrepreneurs

I have to remind myself that I am on step one of a new path and cannot compare my results to those authors who are years ahead of me.

The only difference between where I am and where I want to be is time and effort. I know and accept I have years of learning, practising and doing the writing till I can get to where I want to be

I am focusing on the end results (published books) rather than the actual journey

My goal should not just be getting the book out, but looking at the whole journey on how to get there (including the learning process with writing, marketing and publishing). I must therefore focus my attention on the journey as this is where the joy resides.

I write primarily because it brings me joy

I feel alive when I write. And I love to read. These are the two most rewarding activities I love to spend my time on. And I am fortunate enough to have created a situation where I can step out of the rat race and focus on my writing full-time. So I must focus on enjoying the process and not get caught up in a new self-imposed rat race!

Recognise the race is only ever with myself

It’s good to look at what other successful writers are doing so that you can learn from them. But at the end of the day, all those examples are anecdotal. What worked for them may not work for me and vice versa. But this is the fun part! I get to discover my own path!

It takes time to find your voice. Be patient

Writing is a curious path where you discover yourself as you write. It is essentially a process of self discovery. And I want to enjoy this process. I want to slowly discover my own authentic voice rather than become too concerned with creating a voice. I know that my voice will slowly emerge in time. There is no rush.

Do you have experience burn-out or lack of motivation in your writing? What do you do to overcome this? Please share in the comments below.